Each year, thousands of Lions Club members from around the world unite for an event that celebrates the organisation’s values of solidarity and service.
Founded in 1917, Lions Club International is today one of the world’s largest and most active service organisations, with more than 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries.
The convention is the culminating moment that offers this vast network of volunteers the opportunity to share their experience, learn new skills and inspire each other.
Among the most anticipated moments of this annual event is the parade of international delegations, which is a colourful display of unity.
Lions members proudly parade in the traditional costumes of their countries, creating a vibrant spectacle of colour and sound that perfectly symbolises the global reach of the club.
Another important moment is the election of international officers, including the international president and board members.
They will be the leaders tasked with guiding the organisation in the year ahead, promoting the Lions’ shared vision and values.
The Melbourne convention would not be complete without the delegation of Italian Lions, a large group who undertook the long journey to Australia to share their experience with members from other countries.
On Sunday, June 23, in the elegant setting of the Palladium at Crown, the Italian delegation organised a dinner for members and guests from other delegations.
Distinguished guests included the Consul general of Italy in Melbourne, Hanna Pappalardo, her husband Christian Schultz and the president of Comites Victoria and Tasmania, Ubaldo Aglianò.
In attendance was also the organisation’s outgoing president, Patti Hill and her husband Greg Holmes, and the new president of Lions Club International, Brazilian businessman Fabricio Oliveira.
At the dinner was a touching moment of remembrance for the late Dr Giuseppe ‘Pino’ Grimaldi, the only Italian in the organisation’s history to have served as president. The respected neuropsychiatrist and professor of neurology passed away earlier this year.
The chairman of the board of governors of the Italian Lions Clubs, Claudio Sabattini, was a guest in the studios of Rete Italia and Il Globo TV. Sabattini spoke to us about what it means to belong to an organisation of such great impact worldwide, thanks to the constant and tireless commitment of over a million volunteers.
“Being a volunteer is something that comes from the depths of the heart,” stressed Sabattini.
“I can assure you that the moment you receive the smile of a child who is sick or the thanks of a person in distress, your heart widens.”
The organisation’s goal is “health and aid to all people in need, both from a humanitarian and a health perspective,” explained Sabattini.
“We follow and take charge of all the problems that, unfortunately, in different parts of Italy and the world are becoming worse.”
One of the more difficult moments where the Italian Lions Clubs offered assistance was during the pandemic, when Italy was hit particularly hard.
“A dramatic period,” recalled Sabattini. “We found ourselves in the midst of a stormy sea where the ship was lurching left and right.
“We took stock, and from there a solidarity initiative started. From the point of view of fundraising, from the point of view of the purchase of [medical] machinery … [worth] 8 million euros, which served to give a hand to all the hospitals and institutions that were really on their knees.
“A whole series of initiatives saw Lions come together and create a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree operation - not only in Italy, but all over the world.”
Not to be underestimated is the ability of the organisation to manage and channel funds and volunteers toward very specific goals.
“We have initiated, in collaboration with other European countries, a fundraiser to provide Ukrainians with stoves to feed themselves, since they don’t have electricity in many parts and can’t make their own food,” he shared.
The concern that in a state of war, fundraisers such as this could be exploited by unscrupulous people did not stop the organisation, which got the stoves directly to Ukrainian families.
“It’s a testament,” Sabattini proudly declared, “that our initiatives are being carried out.
“We had raised, from Italy, about two million euros to be used in Ukraine. [These] funds were sent to the Lions of Poland, who used them to buy medicines, machinery, and activate other forms of operational first aid.
“[It’s great when] what you do is brought to fruition and is actually used to do good, to help people.”
Sabattini poignantly summarises the commitment of the Lions, as well as other volunteer organisations around the world:
“There are high moral values of all the people who make up [these organisations], with the purpose of human brotherhood, world peace and peace among peoples.”
